THE award-winning Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) and other festivals in Sarawak will go ahead as scheduled this year if the Covid-19 ban on all kinds of gathering is not extended beyond February 14, said Hii Chang Kii.

The permanent secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture said the festival will, however, be “scaled down, virtual events”.

Hii said this during event management company Place Borneo’s Meet Differently virtual campaign launch this morning.

With the exception of funerals, all kinds of gatherings are currently banned during the conditional movement-control order (CMCO) period, which ends on February 14.

Hii later explained to The Malaysian Insight that in scaling down the events, there will be some performances but to a hugely “limited audience” and in strict compliance to the current Covid-19 health protocols and guidelines.

He said by and large, the music festivals, normally a three-day event starting on a Friday, will be virtual events – live-streaming online – purely “to sustain the branding and visibility” of the respective festivals.

The reason, he added, was also to reassure music fans and followers, both at home and abroad, that the festivals are very much alive and will be staged as normal when the situation permits.

He said the Tourism Ministry sanctioned RWMF, which had been held at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Santubong since 2005, and the Miri Jazz Festival, usually held every May, will be streamed live for free.

Due to the widespread travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, performances by invited international bands will mostly be virtual.

Prior to the pandemic, RWMF festival-goers over the three days could attend the many music workshops held during the day, browse through cultural and craft displays, visit food stalls, and in the evening, attend the concerts.

The average attendance for the last few years has been around 20,000.

Place Borneo’s principal consultant, Gracie Geikie, said her two organised music festivals, the Miri Country Music Festival and the Kuching Jazz Festival, similarly are going virtual “albeit on a lower scale”.

Kuching Jazz will be a hybrid, a mix of virtual and live with limited audience as per SOP guidelines.”

But unlike the Tourism Ministry’s sanctioned events, music fans and festival-goers will have to pay to watch Place Borneo’s events.

“While there may be no value in terms of economic impact to the destination such as accommodation and shopping, the global festival attendee watching the event virtually will contribute to the destination’s awareness and that in itself is a great destination marketing effort and when times are better they will likely visit our destination,” Geikie said.

The Miri Country Music Festivals are slated for November 26 to 27 at the popular Coco Cabana beach, while the Kuching Jazz Festival is slated for September 29 to October 3 at the waterfront of the Grand Margherita Hotel.

The Kuching jazz Festival was formerly known as the Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival.

State Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Abdul Karim Hamzah, in his address to launch Place Borneo’s virtual campaign meeting, said hybrid events – a combination of both virtual and physical with strict SOP – are the way to go moving forward.

“It showcases the best of both worlds and attendees from all over the world can have a choice to attend physically or virtually.” – February 2, 2021.